One day, I packed up my entire closet and donated it to charity. This blog is about what happened next.

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I’ve had a good bit of knitting time this week as I cope with this illness. Between naps and blood draws, I’m basically fighting to get my work done and then napping more or knitting. Knitting is a lot slower than sewing, but I was able to finish this hat in just a few days.

This is the Hinagiku hat, a freebie on ravelry (link), made in Heirloom Cashmino DK. I just bought a winter coat, a puffy hooded parka in a black and white plaid, and none of my existing hats look passable with it. They’re all too colorful — stranded brioche, fair isle, variegated, etc. They clash with the plaid. So I had these two little skeins of Cashmino, an incredibly soft cashmere/merino blend, and it seemed perfect for the hat.

The pattern uses two stitches, a standard 1×1 twisted rib and a daisy stitch. The daisy stitch is new to me. You k3tog and don’t remove the stitches from the left needle. Yarn over, then k3tog again through the same stitches — then you can slide the old stitches off the left needle Purl one, then repeat — it’s a 4-stitch pattern, 3 for the daisy and then a purl. There’s a resting row in between rows of this pattern (purl if it’s flat, knit if it’s round like this hat). The result looks a bit like a crocheted shell stitch. Here’s a close-up.

Cute, right? And it really does resemble crochet. It’s a little hand-crampy because that third maneuver in the daisy — the second k3tog after the yo — can be a little fiddly. I would knit a few rounds, then switch to something else to rest my fingers. When I got to the top, where you have to draw the yarn through the live remaining stitches to close the circle at the crown, I decided to thread the yarn several times through the loop of those live stitches to create a slight button effect.

I’ve done this on other brim-up hats before, and I just like this detail. It gives some weight and a cleaner finish to that final circle.

In between turning my fingers into claws with that daisy stitch, I finished a footie and started the second footie. No second-sock-syndrome here! It’s good to have a bit of mindless knitting on hand — I always keep socks-in-progress in my bag, and so luckily, I had these when I was in the hospital for testing earlier this week. I’ve never regretted toting some knitting around with me, but there have been plenty of times I’m glad to have it!

When I was in the hospital earlier this week, the nurses kept commenting on the socks I was wearing. They just happened to be some red variegated Opal socks in my standard 2×2 ribbed leg and foot — the sock pattern I almost always make because the fit is so good. In any case, one of the nurses was impressed enough with the idea of socks that don’t fall down inside your shoes — and that keep your feet warm! imagine! — that she told me she’s going to learn to knit now, too. Some people say they want to learn and you know they don’t mean it. This woman meant it. Another convert to the fold!

I also finished the “skirt” (hip to hem portion), waist shaping, and belt loops on the Montera jacket. I’m nearly finished with the third ball of yarn, out of an estimated 5.5 needed, so we’re past the halfway mark on this project. The skirt portion is so wide, over 60″ hem circumference, that it is difficult to photograph it flat. I had to turn under the portion on the right from the side seam to the front band.

Here’s a close-up of some of the belt loops. You had to knit each section between the loops separately, and that’s a lot of ends to weave.

Unblocked knitting always looks so raw! The next section of this sweater requires you to track multiple details at once — above-the-waist increases, bust shaping, buttonholes, and cabling. My brain is foggy enough that I don’t want to risk trying that without a chart, so I’ll be charting out these maneuvers before I take this project any further. Better safe than sorry.

I also have several sewing projects on the go, and two of them are near completion. Three, actually, now that I think about it. But I’ll save those for FO reports later this week.